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Oblique stroke

Notation
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A diagonal mark (/) synonymous with virgule, used for line breaks or alternatives in poetry.

Detailed Definition
The oblique stroke maintains line integrity in prose quotations and suggests interpretive multiplicity; its slant introduces dynamic tension between words, supporting modernist fragmentation or polysemy.
Example
Example in poetry:
Oblique strokes (/) mark line breaks in quoted poetry: “Roses are red / Violets are blue”; In hip-hop lyrics as poetry, / indicates rhythmic phrasing; Some poets use / as a forward slash alternative; In compact notation, / replaces enjambment; In digital poetry, / denotes paths; In bilingual poems, / separates language versions.
Additional Notes
Oblique stroke: Oblique stroke is a synonym for slash or solidus; in poetic contexts, it usually functions as a line-break indicator or division marker—maintain consistency with “forward slash” usage to prevent terminological confusion in academic writing.
Also Known As
slash solidus virgule
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